MySpace Update
All the latest versions of our demos are now up on our MySpace page
so what are you doing reading this? Go listen!
Update: Actually there not quite there yet cos MySpaz is being very annoying. check back in a few hours though and all will be well!
Hi, it’s been a while since our last update and as you might guess from the title of this post there’s a lot to tell you about. I hope you’ve all got your pen, pencil and ruler out and are ready to take notes.
Firstly, we’ve entered a competition on-line at the Evo Music Rooms. Hopefully some of the judges from the competition will be reading this post because we ran in to a few problems with our application and couldn’t upload the video we wanted them to see! We only heard about the competition a few hours before before the closing date, so we had a frantic evening uploading all our songs and videos. We literally got everything done with a few seconds to spare only to discover that YouTube had blocked our video because it was over 10 minutes long (school boy error I know!)
Anyway, instead we’ve uploaded a video of the first 3 songs from our recent show at The Bedford to Vimeo (that’ll learn you to mess with us YouTube). We’re kinda hoping that the judges will find it here, think we’re amazing and let us through to the knock out rounds. Also we think it’s only fair that we share it with the rest of you:
We played 2 shows at The Bedford in the space of about 10 days and both were recorded so we’ll be posting more highlights as and when we work out an easy way of editing all the raw matierial. Keep comming back here for updates.
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While we’re on the subject of The Bedford we’d like to say thanks to all of you that came to our 2 headline shows there this month. We always have a great time there – the crowds and atmosphere are fantastic, Roberto the Sound Man is one of the best in the business and it’s right round the corner from where we all live, so playing there doesn’t even deprive us of any beauty sleep!
We’ve already booked another show in April which we’ll confirm here soon and we’re also negotiating to get ourselves a monthly residency there. Things are looking pretty good on that front so hopefully we’ll be playing regular free shows in The Globe at The Bedford from the spring. Keep your eyes peeled for us.
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Anyone who saw us over Chirstmas will have noticed a few changes to our line-up. In November our guitarist onechickentim broke his finger in a freak goal keeping accident and had to put the guitar down for a torturous 3 whole months. While he was away ex-band mate and now band leader in his own right Will Burton stepped in to ensure we didn’t have to cancel any shows. He did a fantastic job and has even joined us at one of the nights at The Bedford to help out with some vocal harmonies. Tim is well on the mend now so we’re all working like crazy, writing new songs and finishing off all the demos that have been hanging around for a while.
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Which brings us nicely to our MySpace page. For ages we’ve had live studio recordings up there for people to listen to but we’ve decided that’s all about to change. Those of you that know us well know that we run a recording studio in Clapham called Rocket Science Records, and over the last 12 months or so we’ve been beavering away learning the in’s and outs of record production. Some of that has been documented here but we thought it was about time we put all our efforts up on our MySpace page for the world to hear.
Only two or three of the tracks are what we’d call really finished. Most either haven’t haven’t had their final mixes done or have parts that need adding taking away or re-recording, so they’ll probably get updated pretty quickly. Nonetheless we’re proud of them even in this state so we thought we should share them with you.
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That’s all really, our next show is at the Tram Shed in Tooting on the 24th March, but it’s a private party so you might not be able to come (ya boo sucks to you!), and there’s the show we mentioned earlier at The Bedford in early April. I dare say we’ll get a few more gigs sorted between now and then so keep your eyes peeled for updates.
Till then this is Rocket Number Nine, on their way to the planet Venus, signing off.
xx
Water Rats, Wednesday 16th September.
Well, we’ve been here before! A few months ago we had a show booked at The Water Rats which was re-located at the last minute to a slightly less illustrious, but insanely loud venue in Great Portland Street. That evening was memorable for bumping into my old school chum Dustin, who was playing at a comedy club next door. He’s been off to Edinburgh since with a successful show and with a bit of luck they’ll be using some of our music in a few new sketches. Go and see them if you can, they’re genuinely hilarious.
Anyway, we’re nothing if we’re not persistent, so we got back in touch with the Water Rats promoters and have booked ourselves a few support slots over the coming months. They’ll be some of our biggest shows to date, and I’ve even heard a rumour that we get a consultation with the lighting designers during the sound check. If that’s true then I promise I’ll do all I can to get green lazers and smoke machines firing into the crowd so we can all pretend we’re in The Fridge circa 1998.
So the first date is the 16th September and we’ll be selling tickets directly ourselves. It keep the cost down for you all and it means that we get to make a bit of money without having to haggle with the venue after the show. Please email us and we’ll reserve you a ticket, they cost £6 in advance from us but a whopping £8 if you buy them from the venue on the night.
The show starts at 8pm and we’re on first so don’t be late! The other acts are Honey Ryder (headliners) and Red Skys, but really we know you’re only interested in seeing us!
Oh, and as usual here is a map:
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Live at The Troubadour, Thursday 6th August.
So, things have been a bit quiet round here lately. After an insanely busy time over the spring with with lots of London shows, festivals and fun and games on the radio we needed a bit of time out to ourselves. We’ve been in the studio writing and recording new songs and doing a bit of rehearsing. Ed’s been spending time with his very red, brand new, super-duper keyboard. Tim has been making the most of his time recording hours of improvisational avant-guard noise guitar, and teaching himself how to play the drums free jazz style. We’ve even mixed and finished a few records one or two of which I’ll post up here over the weekend.
What with only one live show in July however we’ve been missing playing live, so we really excited to announce that we’re playing the Troubadour next Thursday, with our good friends (and ex-elliott people) Baxter-Burton and The Robot Heart. Some of you will remember Tom Baxter and Will Burton from a previous incarnation of Rocket Number Nine. This is our first show on the same bill as them since we all went our separate ways, so we’re super happy about that. Ed has even been recruited to sing harmonies for them!
Anyway, The Troubadour is a lovely little venue on Brompton Road, 2 minutes walk from West Brompton tube and about 4 minutes walk from Earls Court. As per the usual here is a map:
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It’s £6 on the door and I’ve no word on guest lists or anything just yet. Drop us a line if your coming though and we’ll try to get you in fo cheap! Doors open at 8pm and I thikn we’re on second so don’t be late!
Hope to see you all there…
Friday’s Show – Venue Change
The Venue for Friday nights show has been changed to 229 CLUB Great Portland Street on account of the promoter booking Mr Eddie K – a 20 million album seller form the US…fair enough!
Judging by the photos and reviews this place looks amazing. The PA is huge and the sound should be excellent. Here is a map:
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DONT MISS our last show for ages in this MASSIVE venue!
Monto Water Rats, Friday 3rd July.
Hey there Rocketeers,
We’ve just come back from the Giant Gig in the Garden festival on Sweden’s beautiful island of Ivo were we had another great time at what is a really intimate festival in a truly picturesque setting – There is nothing quite like getting off stage and being able to jump straight in to a lake, it’s certainly a feature we’d like to see introduced at more Venues in London! We’ll be posting more about the festival later together with pictures and perhaps even a special track from the EP we produced especially for the festival.
Right now though we want to invite you to our next show at The Monto Water Rats in the heart of London. We’re on at 9pm, and as usual here’s a map for the venue: SEE ABOVE POST FOR NEW VENUE!!
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Sunday day is Festival Day!
To celebrate the arrival of summer we are playing at two FREE local festivals in London this Sunday the 14th June.
12.30 – 2pm Lavender Hill Street festival, Battersea
3 – 5pm Greenfest, Hammersmith
The First is at Lavender Hill Street Festival (Clapham Junction).
The music stage is outside the bar MishMash and we are on first between 12 and 1pm. After that we’ll be making a quick getaway so we have time to reach our next destination, Greenfest in Hamersmith.
Greenfest in an all-day event in the lovely Furnival Gardens in Hammersmith. For those that don’t know where that is here’s a map:
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The gardens will be filled with lovely food and drinks provided by a diverse collection of independent stalls with all sorts of sustainable treats on offer. It’ll be a mega day out for all involved and
a great place to come with families and small children.
The musical line up is as follows:
1-2pm Havanna good time
2-3pm Sean Taylor
3-4pm Rocket Number 9
4-5pm Nsimba and his group Taxi Pata Pata
If you’ve always wanted to see us play outside in the sunshine and you cant afford to come with us to IVO Island Sweden for the ‘Giant Garden Party’ then join us on SUNDAY 14th JUNE instead.
Arch 635, Friday 5th June
Friday 5th June see us back at Arch 635 in Clapham North. I don’t know quite what the details are yet, but I think we may well be either last or second to last on the bill – if we get an option we’ll try to make it earlier rather than later so we can hang out with you all afterwards. Also, some of us in this band are getting old and need our beauty sleep… it’s a fiver to get in, no flyers as yet but if there are any discounts then we’ll let you know before the gig. It can me a bit tricky to find so here is a map, and I’ll post more details when I get them:
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Soul Demonstration!
I a bit nervous about posting this cos basically it’s just 20 minutes of us pissing around in a rehearsal, but hey ho, we haven’t posted much music up here in a while, mostly because we’ve stopped recording our rehearsals quite as much as we used to, and this seems to have a nice summer vibe. I’m not quite sure how it came about but basically the first part is a bastardised/backwards version of Demonstration Soul, played in the wrong key just to keep everybody on their toes. As for the reggae at the end – well I think that was just a case of George not being able to contain himself!
Naturally with something like this we’re making it all up as we go along so it’s littered with indulgence and mistakes, but hey, we’re not precious about that! listen to the whole 20 minutes if you dare!
93 Feet East, Wednesday 3rd June
Another month and another load of shows. Our first gig in June sees us playing 93 Feet East on Wednesday 3rd June. We’re 3rd on the line up so expect us to be on stage somewhere between 9 & 9:30. Tickets are £7 on the door or £6 if you bring along the flyer, however we are also selling advanced tickets for a fiver so if you want to save some dollar either email me or Ed or drop us a line at rocketnumberninemail-at-gmail-dot-com.
93 Feet East is in Brick Lane, near the Truman Brewery. My friend James rather scathingly described Brick Lane as having become a bit like a playground for trendies, so no map this time. If you don’t know where it is, you’re not trendy enough to come!
Hope to see you all there…
Bush Hall, Thursday 14th May.
Things have been a bit quiet round here recently, we’ve been busy in the studio writing new songs, recording old ones, booking shows and radio appearances and generally not updating our website much. Sorry about that, but stay tuned cos it’s all about to change. Maybe…
In the meantime we’re super excited to announce what will be one of our biggest shows yet at Bush Hall this Thursday. As you can see it’s a pretty posh, and very pink looking venue, complete with chanderlers. It’s played host to some pretty famous names in the past (including Chris Rea no less) so we’re hoping for great sound and lots of flashing lights while we play! We’re on 2nd to last at around 9:30, but it promises to be quite a busy night so you might want to get there early or get yourself an advanced ticket though the usual outlets. It’s six quid to get in, but if you print out this flyer and bring it along with you then you get a whole pound off at the door…
The nearest tubes is Shepard’s Bush Market (which is a new one to me) though it’s also a short walk from Shepard’s Bush propper. Here is a map:
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Lastly, do keep checking back here with us over the next few weeks, as we have a bunch of exciting things coming up, not least of which is an appearance on Rhythm 365 radio next Wednesday 20th and festival appearances in Hammersmith and Sweden. We’ll also be posting some shiny new recordings soon, and I’ve just updated our listings page so if you cant get to the Bush Hall show, try to get to some of the others.
The Spice of Life, Saturday 18th April.
We’re super excited to announce that we’re headlining at The Spice of Life this month. For those that don’t know it’s a lovely venue deep in the heart of Soho (Moor Street). It’s been hosting live music since the 60s and apparently has a reputation for having a great sound system.
We got the booking a few months ago when we were playing around the corner at Jazz After Dark. Ed had forgotten to bring a power cable for his keyboard so while the rest of us were setting up he ran around all the local venues trying to beg a kettle lead. Fortunately the sound guys at The Spice of Life were kind enough to lend him one and he was so taken with the place that he wangled a Saturday night booking.
We are on stage at 9.45pm and will play for 45mins. Here’s a map, and seeing as it’s in Soho who wants to join me for burgers at Ed’s Diner before hand?
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Gumboots
Sometimes songs arrive fully formed, like unexpected gifts, and other times they come piecemeal over months. Sometimes the process is so quick and natural it feels like you’re pulling melodies out of the sky. Other times it’s longer, more laborious and studied. Occasionally (perhaps more frequently than I care to admit) ideas are simply stolen from other songs:
The basic structure for this song is something that came to me in 10 minutes on a rainy summers afternoon, probably as much as 8 years ago. The previous summer, during a holiday in France, my friends had introduced me to Nick Drake and I’d been hooked ever since, painstakingly working out his tunings and trying to learn his songs by ear.
Fortunately we have websites for that sort of thing now. I wish I’d known that at the time.
One that I worked out relatively quickly was River Man, partly cos it’s in standard tuning and a bit easier than the rest once you’ve got the timing and rhythm right, and partly because, even amongst his many gems, it stands out as a truly beautiful song that almost demanded to be learnt.
On that rainy afternoon it was the haunting refrain at it’s end that gave me the template for my own song (oh, how they come and go). It’s a deceptively simple chord progression, just alternating between a B minor 13th and a B major 13th. It needed something else to break the monotony so I threw in a B9 chord which I kinda stole from another Nick Drake song, Time Has Told Me. That gave me a bridge, and hey presto, a new song had emerged.
Bare in mind this was long before Ed had invited me to form a band with him, I was writing for myself, almost without consequence. Certainly, stealing bits and piece from wherever didn’t bother me in the slightest, so while I’m playing around with the chords I start singing whatever comes into my head. Before long I find myself matching the lyrics from Gumboots, an Paul Simon song, to the chords I’m playing. It all just seemed to fit.
Thinking back, Gumboots (from Paul Simon’s Gracelands) had always seemed a bit schizophrenic to me. The lyrics seems both sparky and arrogant yet desperately pleading, but they’re matched to a sunny sounding arrangement, complete with soaring saxophones and cheery accordion. Don’t get me wrong, I love the original, and the album in general – it was a firm favourite when I was a kid on long car journeys – but there is something about the content versus the production that feels dislocated. The way we play it, swinging back and forth between the minor and major it has a plaintiveness that I’m more comfortable with.
I don’t know whether all that makes this song a cover, or whether it’s just plain plagiarism, but over the years it’s become a mainstay for me, both in the band and when I perform solo. Fast forward to a few months ago and we’re rehearsing in the studio with our then new drummer, Mark. As a four piece we’d never played the song before and although George knew roughly what we wanted from the bassline, he was basically making it up as we went along, Mark doubly so. It is a testament to the two of them as musicians, and to Ed, who improvised some perfect backing vocals, that after the briefest of discussions the first take of the song came out almost perfect. It was probably that night that I knew that, after a year or so of searching, Ed and I had finally assembled the musicians we’d been looking for.
The Cross Kings, Friday 3rd April.
We’re back playing the Cross Kings next Friday 3rd April. For those who have never seen us play there before it’s a really nice pub, with a great atmosphere, just up on York Way:
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It’s a two floor venue, and we’re hoping that we’ll be downstairs in the Jester Bar , but I’ve heard a rumour that we could be upstairs. In theory this is better cos there is a real stage with real lights, and a mixing desk with enough working channels on it to cope with a real band. We kinda prefer it down in the bassment though, were it’s a bit more lo-fi, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that we’ll be there.
No flyers this time but as far as I know entry costs a fiver. I’m not quite sure what time we’re on but we’re probably somewhere around the the middle of the bill – I’ll update this post with more precise details as soon as I know them.
Hope & Anchor show
Ok, so here are the details for our next show, this coming Tuesday at the Hope and Anchor on Upper street. Here’s a map for the directionally challanged:
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The Doors open at 8:30 and we’re on soon after – for a change we’re the first band on the bill so with a bit of luck this wont be a late one, we need our beauty sleep after all!
Here is a flyer with all the details, print it out and bring it along so you don’t have to pay full price on the door:
If for some tragic reason you cant make it then fear not, we’re playing the Cross Kings in, um, Kings Cross, 3 days later on Friday 3rd – I’ll post more details about that tomorrow. We actually have quite a busy schedule over the next few months with more shows being booked all the time, you can keep up to date with it all by checking out our new listings page here Hope to see you at one or the other of the shows.
Stuff we want you to listen to…
The observant amongst you all will have noticed that we’ve added a new page to the menu thingy up the top there. Click the stuff to listen to link to hear a hand picked selection of songs recorded during rehearsals over the last few months…
From the Floor & Funky George
George absolutely kills it on this jam. It’s an outtake from a rehearsal a few months ago which we found the other night while we were trawling through the archives looking for stuff for promo cds.
The actual song I’m singing is From The Floor, an old song me and ed used to perform acoustically like this:
You can hear a rehearsal version with the full band here (near the bottom of the list)
It drifts in and out of our live set nowadays, and despite only really having 2 chords, it’s actually one of the songs we find more difficult to play. George in particular used to complain that he would just repeat himself all the time, almost as if it’s too simple for him, and for a while I think me and Ed had one rhythm in our heads whilst Mark had another. Still, nobody seems to be struggling in this when we play it like this!
Watch out for this version of it working it’s way in to our live set from now on!
The Morning After, The Life Before.
An improvisation with Tom Spencer:
[Audio http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/527302/The%20morning%20after%20the%20life%20before%20.mp3]
Bar 635
. . . all of you aspiring anthropologists out there . . use London transport on a regular basis . 割りと生あはれ亜弥破魔、羅バカ雨ワカwith an owl ! サギ焼き付ける羅沙奈 ( if you understand traditional mandarin . . that’s my most closely guarded secret ) . .
anyway . . friday night at the arch 635 sw4 was the place to be last night . . rocket#9 tearing it up with a cornucopic set of ( don’t rush . . lay it back ) tight/loose/tight/loose funk . . victorian sideshow magic pop potions for rascals with scurvy and a touch of clapabama blues to keep those tails a’waggin . . yeah YEAH ! . . i knew everything was alright with the world when george showed up not in his civvies . . phew . . i think one day i’ll wear a dhl jacket and outdo him big time . . actually . . the way my poverty stricken life is going at the moment . . i may be wearing a dhl jacket for real quite soon ! . .shit . . and yellow is so not my colour ! . . .
george seemed to be getting more and more drunk as the night progressed and i was getting a bit concerned about whether or not he would be able to keep it together for the set ! . . however . . my apprehension evaporated when i could hear that rock steady bass thumping on my funk buds during the set ! . . i haven’t heard so much bass since . . . ( wait for this one . . . it’s good ! ) . . since benito the blind baritone bellowed a beautiful bottom b from a blacked out basement in bologna . . . . nice one georgie boy ! . . so me and the bassboy keeping it tight and mischevious ( i may have spelt that wrong ) in the engine room . . ed and tim’s sparkling melodies soaring over the clapham night sky . . we were really flying ! . . rocket number 9 indeed ! . . i was enjoying tim’s solo in ‘ love would be better’ so much that i forgot i was in the band! . . gathered my dumb little thoughts and gave it everything that i’ve got . . a lovely and warm reception wafted over us at the end of the jams and that was that . . .
so . . the night was still young and i was looking forward to mingling a bit ( not my forte ) and watching the other groups ( groups ?) . . i was watching the layers when i was very unexpectedly accosted by a ‘high on beer’ peroxided ( oh dear ! ) australian with long legs and a short skirt who threatened me with physical assault if i didn’t come next door and dance with her ! . . i’d never seen her before so what the by jiminy . . ( ” who am i to blow against the wind ” ) . . so there we are . . cutting a few shapes to some eighties pap when a deep voice shouts in my ear and tells me that blondie is his girlfriend !! . . i spin round round 180• and he is taller than me . . has more hair than me and is ( only marginally mind you ) better looking than me . . “jeeeez” . . i think to myself . . “well i’m not exactly here by my own endeavours ” . . so i spin him a yarn about me working for ‘ breakdance ’84′ magazine and ‘glide’ backwards off that dancefloor giving it my best moonwalk . . which sadly . . was more ‘michael j fox’ than ‘michael jackson’
so . . now my tail had stopped wagging and was firmly between my legs . . the night passed on with little event for me . . packed up our tools and headed back to the hit factory for some kind of crazy jam ( with nachos and beer ) with the layers . . which disappointingly sounded like level 42 building the jubilee line extension with a giant hornets nest a bit further down the tunnel . . . oh well . . it’s happened before and no doubt it’ll happen again . . . . walked back home around 5 feeling strangley befuddled and straight to sleep . . woke up this morning ( ish ) to free range scrambled eggs . . bright orange farmed salmon and a hot buttered chubby bagel . . . mmmmmm . . . . my tail is a’waggin once more . . . .
